Bike build - what's needed?

fazersmart

Have budget of £2500 to spend on new racing bike. But if I went down frame & build, what's total list? So far I think I need; frame, head set, handle bars, seat post, saddle, groupset & wheels. Is this it? (I know some frames come with head set & seatpost). Wanted to price up to see what's best as parts are in huge sales at the mo!

HadronCyclist

lol. take a look at a picture of a bicycle...

bar tape, tyres, tubes, rim tape, stem and cables are just some of the things you've overlooked.

HadronCyclist

lol. take a look at a picture of a bicycle...

bar tape, tyres, tubes, rim tape, stem and cables are just some of the things you've overlooked.

Monkeypump

Tools, ability to actually build, time, contingency fund...

Speedmenace

forks, pedals, chain. come on man get with it

id recommend looking on ebay, 2k will get you something special

sloppyschleckonds

I'd budget £100 for your lbs to put it together for you

Monkeypump

On a more serious note, if you're asking this I suspect you might need some insight into what building a bike from scratch really involves.

Have a look on youtube and the Park Tools websites at some of the bike maintenance vids and see if you think you've got the required skills (or can learn them) before you start.

Don't start what could be a frustrating and expensive project if you think you can't do it. Pressing in headsets and facing bottom brackets isn't a kitchen-table job - they need to be done properly.

Not saying you can't do it, but think about it seriously. £2.5k will buy you a very nice complete bike.

fazersmart

No worries, I kind of assumed you guys knew I wasn't attempting to build it! :shock: Was gonna give it to LBS to do that. Take for granted bout pedals & tyres. I have those ready & tape. Thought the chain came with groupset? Just not sure whether I gotta get cables (or are these in groupset cost?) any bearings or parts hidden I know nothing about? Would love to build one day but my DIY skills have a lot to be desired!

godders1

Taken from my build list:

Frame
Fork
Headset
stem
bars
Front mech
Rear mech
Chainset
Chain
Cassette
Brakes
Shifters
Bottom bracket
Cables
Pedals
wheelset
tyres
seatpost
seatpost clamp
saddle
tubes
rim tape
BB cable guide
cable donuts
crimp on cable ends
headset spacers
Bar tape

geoff_ss

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

I'd budget £100 for your lbs to put it together for you

Absolutely not. Assembling a push bike isn't all that difficult. It's just a simple assembly job and if you've done it yourself you know how to fix it, too.

fazersmart

Cool thanks guys. What comes included with a groupset?
Oh & I'd really love to self build but I couldn't even fit the pannier rack to my work bike!!!

geoff93

Building bikes is a doddle, just look online if you cant do something, but if you really cant just run to your LBS.

EdZed

A full groupset usually includes the following:

Chainset (crank and front sprockets/gears)
Bottom bracket
Cassette (rear sprockets/gears)
Brake calipers
Brake/gear levers
Front derailleur
Rear derailleur
Chain
Cables

It is worth bearing in mind that for that amount of money you will probably get better parts and therefore better value for money by buying a complete bike as manufacturers get the various components at a considerable discount from what you would pay for them individually (even in a sale). Have a look at a complete bike for around £2.5k (even better if £2.5k is a sale price) and then have a go at adding up the individual components themselves; this of course depends on where and at what price you can source the individual components from but my guess would be that if you build your own bike to the specification of a complete bike worth £2.5k (sale price or otherwise) you would spend considerably more to build the same bike yourself.

I am not saying that you should do this especially if you have something in mind that's not off the peg, but it's a worthwhile exercise to do before you commit to building a bike that's [possibly] available elsewhere already (although sale options are usually more limited that non-sale options). Also many bike shops will change the components that come with a compete bike to your specification e.g. wheels, although upgrades will cost more (+ less flexibility in respect of sale items). In which case it may be worth considering a £2k off the peg bike and using the remaining £500 budget to upgrade certain components to your own choice + you won't have to pay for the shop to build the bike this way; although you won't gain the knowledge or satisfaction you would by building it yourself!

No matter which route you take £2.5k should get you a very good bike.

+ you will have to factor in getting some tools yourself - even if the shop builds the bike - so you can alter things at home. If you get a carbon bike I highly recommend that you get a decent torque wrench as you will not want to over-tighten carbon components e.g. when tightening the seat post clamp after changing the saddle height.

fazersmart

Thanks EdZed.
Think you maybe right. Have costed up a build and they do come in pretty close to off peg. Sourcing all the bits in sale would be the only way but for not much gain! My dream custom build will wait for a few years when I can afford to get it resprayed to my colour too
Have looked at a few bikes and narrowed it done to a Focus Izalco Dura ace £2000(haven't test ridden but so cheap at wiggle with 20% off code!), Tarmac expert or Scott R2 both can be bought for £2300. (or wait for lowest spec Scott foil £2800)
Did like the idea of maybe buying slightly cheaper and upgrading. Hadn't thought of that.
Will keep the build list for future date though. Always wondered whats needed and its not as terrifyingly long list as I thought!

glanma

Would agree with a few other previous posts - for that sort of money you can buy a decent off the peg bike with plenty of choice too. That said, i just finished building my first bike from the frame up - spent around £700 all in mainly using Ebay and got plenty of top gear inc many quality carbon parts (its for my 13 yr old son but he's a club racer and I wanted to give him the chance to compete with some of the 'better-off' riders, but within my budget levels!) - I had no previous experience, just did plenty of research and looked up lots of how-to's. The only bit I farmed out was fitting the head set, as I didn't want to get it wrong being a full carbon steerer. Was actually really disappointed to finish the build-up - though we were both really pleased with the bike, Dad of course had to test ride it and it handles like a dream! Now I want to build another as I enjoyed it so much - for me this time tho! So if you have basic DIY skills and plenty of enthusiasm, have a go at collecting the parts and building your own - it's highly rewarding!

jackthelad

The advantage of building a bike yourself is that you get all the stuff you would normally change on a bike right first time.I have a bike where I have changed the pedals,saddle,stem,wheels and now looking at the bars as it came with 42 and I like 44
so just buying the frame can save these costs by getting it right first time.If I where you I would get the supplier to fit the headset,when I asked about a frame and forks the company said they would fit it free of charge,just the cost of the headset.The bottom bracket if you ask if it comes threaded again the supplier might do it as a freebie,then do the rest yourself from u tube videos and info on the net.But this only works if you know what suits you,if you find that the standard of the peg stuff is fine,then why bother.

giant_man

+ loads - give it a go at building yourself. The sense of satisfaction far outweighs any fears you initially have. And it's fun!